Former Virginia Governor Jim Gilmore was on the John Fredericks Show yesterday and here’s the audio of it.

I do not have a lot of time this morning for analysis but I generally think Gilmore is still a wonderful candidate and would be a great President (or for that matter Vice President). He’s thoughtful and not a shrill headline-grabber. I disagree a bit with Gov. Gilmore’s criticism of Sen. Rand Paul as I can see the potential abuse of unlimited access to phone numbers of US parties (the government could, for example, determine one of its critics or a key vote on a key bill is say frequently phone sex sites and decides to blackmail the official to silence or to vote their way; also technology is so pervasive that if we lose our freedoms, we cannot hope to unite to regain them) but I also considered the measured way Gilmore is trying to balance security and freedom.

The former Virginia governor says he’s on the ballot in Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Florida. I agree he has been treated unfairly (George Pataki was in more debates than Jim Gilmore and I am sure Gilmore has more support than the former NY governor.) but people can help.

Go to Gilmore for America site and download the petition and get Gilmore on the ballot! If I were in a spot to go to Iowa or New Hampshire, I’d go and help the governor. Maybe I’ll have to mull whatever influence I have and focus it toward Iowa and NH…

Elwood "Sandy" Sanders is a Hanover attorney who is an Appellate Procedure Consultant for Lantagne Legal Printing and has written ten scholarly legal articles. Sandy was also Virginia's first Appellate Defender and also helped bring curling in VA! (None of these titles imply any endorsement of Sanders’ views)

2 Responses to “GOP Presidential Candidate Jim Gilmore on John Fredericks Show Tuesday!”

This is probably the first instance where I completely disagree with your analysis of a candidate. Ordinarily you distance yourself from establishment/RINO candidates but yet you think Gilmore would make a good candidate. When Gilmore was in office he did one notable thing and that was reducing the car tax. Did his administration reduce the size and scope of the government or reduce regulation on the businesses and the citizenry. I think not. Since the budget continued to grow where did the additional money come from? Smoke and mirrors. It is unfortunate that when someone attains the highest position in elected office whether it is president,governor, mayor they enter having no understanding of how the bureaucracy works and in my judgement make little if any efort to find out. When the new head assumes his position he simply puts in his cabinet, people that probably assisted in his campaign and again with no information on the abuses that go on routinely. This includes theft, over growth of the government, and a complete disregard of the tax payer. I worked for many years at the administrative level in state government and I could write pages on this topic. We do not have leaders that can think critically about what goes on in our government. Both parties are guiltily. I consider that most of our leaders are not much more than the new head of the fraternity. To sum up Gilmore was his assertion as to why he was running for the president. “I was nobody and then I became governor and was somebody. Now I don’t need to be somebody and that is not the reason I am running.” Really. Can we not have another psychologist interp that statement. If you like Gilmore then Jeb Bush would be another choice,they are one and the same, no difference. Both are life long beaucrats. David Jackson

Thanks David Jackson for your thoughtful analysis of Governor Gilmore and for coming and for being civil about it. I support the Governor because he has serious credentials for the Presidency in three areas: Taxation (he helped bring about the moratorium on the Internet sales taxes), fighting Terrorism (that cred is being shown to be more essential every day), and Technology (first state governor to set up a Secretary of Technology). People laughed a bit at Jim Gilmore running for President so I wanted to help him out to show he is a serious candidate. It is also based in part on: Since I can’t have Ron Paul this time, Ambassador John Bolton didn’t run (probably a huge mistake as it turned out), and I was not excited about the other candidates, Gilmore as a “favorite son” was a logical choice. Most people in government have not reduced its size or level. It’s too bad. I do not think anyone would say Gilmore is a RINO. But thanks again for coming by and I hope you have/had a blessed Thanksgiving.